Sunday, October 20, 2013

This is what the Expo's fabulous concrete potato looked like when we visited in 2006...

...and it appears they have renovated it and put up a more professional sign in the years since. Personally, we prefer the lovably unprofessional-looking lettering from before.

Inside you'll find a bushel of exhibits...

...including this natty burlap tux...

...worn by the ironically named C.G. Rice. Perhaps he told his dry cleaners to go light on the starch.

They've got the world's biggest Pringle on display...

...Marilyn Monroe rocking some burlap...

...and another big spud.

There's a potato tune...

...and Dan Quayle's autograph on a spud to honor his having trouble with the spelling of the word when he was vice-president.

They've also got a farm harvesting machine with one of the coolest Space Age potato-related names ever...

...Spudnik!

Be sure to see the Hall of Fame of potato movers and shakers...

...and don't miss the awesome multi-media presentation.

Of all the wonderfully eccentric roadside places we've visited, we love the Idaho Potato Expo's giant concrete potato so much we put it on
our masthead. When we visited there in 2006, we found it to be everything we'd ever hoped for in an eccentric roadside attraction -- one of those small town, lovably earnest places that's a tribute to something some might find ordinary but others devote themselves to. This is one of the places that makes America
great. A sweet, friendly lady greeted us at the front desk/gift shop and was impressed we came all the way from Rhode Island to visit Tater Central. Inside the museum is the story
of Idaho potatoes, told in a low-tech way with lots of folk-arty
paintings and a-peeling exhibits. At the gift shop, they've whipped up a spud-tacular array of great and goofy
tuber souvenirs (alas, though, there was no tuber toothpaste).
And, true to their slogan ("We give taters to Out-Of-Staters"), we
received a box of yummy hash browns to take home with us! You can't beat, whip, boil or mash
that. So don't fritter away your visit to Idaho without visiting the Expo... you'll be in a state of bliss and I yam certain you'll want to you-tuber it to see if there's a mash-up. Tot's all folks!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

It is with great sadness that we report that the Hilltop Steakhouse of Saugus, Massachusetts, a 52-year-old mainstay of eccentric roadside restaurant awesomeness, will be closing its coral doors for the last time on Sunday, October 20. We love this place for its throwback appeal to a time when you just couldn't eat enough meat, carbs and more meat. You even got a place mat to show you what part of the cow you were about to ingest. But the best Hilltop had to offer was it's Texas-sized 50-foot neon cactus sign, letting all passersby on Route 1 know they're in the presence of eccentric roadside dining greatness. So long Hilltop...you'll always be prime in our book. Read our earlier post here.

Are we there yet?

This blog is devoted to old fashioned American roadside attractions... the wonderfully big, bizarre, crazy, wacky, quirky, weird, funny, unique and mundane sites you see travelling cross-country by car in the USA, where getting there really is all the fun!